It's just a cat

Part 1

"I'm home!" Jenna screamed over the thunder and rain that crashed down outside as she shut the door. "In the kitchen." She heard her mum yell. She dumped her bag on the floor and walked into the kitchen, she had been at drama rehearsal after school and made it home just in time for the big hand of the grandfather clock to hit the 12 and the small one to meet the 7. She took a massive breath in and sighed, she loved the smell of her mothers favourite dish, she never knew what it was, but it tasted amazing, it was beef, or pork, she didn't bother to ask she enjoyed it too much. "Almost ready hun, why don't you go get changed." "Okay." She said hopping off the chair and heading to her room. She kicked her school shoes off and stripped down and replaced the rain soaked school clothes with clean, dry clothes. "Meow?" She got a fright and turned her head suddenly at her bed to see her charcoal grey kitten: Soot lying on her bed, just woken up from his nap. "You scared me Soot." She said walking over to him and rubbing his head. He began to purr and stood up and meowed at Jenna. She knew what he wanted and picked him up in a ball and carried him back to the kitchen. He purred the whole way, swinging his paw at her long blonde hair dangling in front of him. Jenna was 9 now, she got Soot as a birthday present when she was 8, so Soot was still young. He was getting heavier, but Jenna managed to hold him just right that she can carry him for hours, and she does, everywhere she goes, except school of course. She got to the kitchen and her mum looked at her and frowned. "When are you going to put that cat down Jenna?" "Muuuuum, I will when we eat I promise." Jenna's dad came into the room and also frowned when he saw the cat in her arms as usual. "Jenna-" "Yes dad, i know, mum just told me, I'll put him down when we eat. "Okay, well dinners ready now, let's eat" Her mum, Carly, said walking with a big bowl of stew to the table. They followed her and took a seat. Jenna put Soot down and he strolled over to the couch and hopped up. They said a prayer and began to eat. "Mum, what do you put in this that makes it so good?" Jenna asked gobbling down a mouth full. "Jenna eat with your mouth closed darling." Her dad said, giving her a stern look. "Well, it's just a mixture of spices hun, nothing special." She said taking a bite of bread. "It just tastes different though, and why do we only have it on Mondays?" She asked, still eating. "Jenna what did I say about eating with food in your mouth?" Her father yelled. "Sorry dad." She stared at her food. He calmed down a bit and continued to eat. They finished their meal in silence and Jenna excused herself and went to her room. Soot had migrated there when her dad yelled, and was laying on her bed. She went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth and then went to bed. Soot curled up at the foot of her bed and purred. She turned the light off and went to sleep. The thunder outside was getting louder, the crack in her curtains flashed once in a while and she prepared herself for the crash. one...two....three.... nothing... then bam! the thunder boomed through her room and rattled her brain. Jenna could never sleep through thunderstorms, and neither could Soot. He had relocated himself to Jenna's side, under the blanket. Every time the thunder boomed he would jump a little bit and meow quietly. "I know Soot, but it won't hurt us, don't worry." Jenna's eyes couldn't help but drift to the window as the wind blow and the tree branches outside crashed down on it. Her eyelids grew heavy and she began to drift off to sleep, when the branch outside smacked the window, bringing her back to reality and making her wide awake. Each time she drifted off, the branch would smack the window and she would wake up. But this time, but as she was drifting off, the branch came down on the window so hard and fast it smashed right through it. She screamed and threw the blanket over her head in fear. Soot was under the blanket and staring at Jenna with his deep blue eyes. The he gave her wasn't like any normal look that brought warmth to her. It was a look of fear and distraught. It didn't make her feel any better, but she pulled him in closer and hugged him. She was too scared to look out from the blanket, but she could hear the tree branch reaching into her window, slapping against the shards of glass still held on by the frame. Then suddenly... Silence. After a minute or two Jenna felt safe to look out from the sheet. As she slowly moved the blanket away from her eyes, she opened them, to realise she was centimetres away a face that she knew straight away was not human. She opened her mouth to scream but the figure placed what felt like a giant cat paw on her mouth. The face grinned a wide grin. Through the terror of what was happening, she realised the figures was a mangled cross between a cat and a human. The smile made her eyes open even wider than they were already. Then something happened that she wasn't sure how to handle. The figure looked down at Soot and stopped smiling. It looked back at Jenna and put a claw over its mouth to tell her not to scream and removed it's handpaw from her face. She instantly let out an ear piercing scream. The figure turned and put its human body on all fours and bolted out the window. Jenna stopped screaming as her parents came running into her room.